JO JO MAKOONS: SNOW DAY Jo Jo, Book 3

Anishinaabe performer Jennifer Bobiwash returns as Jo Jo Makoons, an ebullient Ojibwe first grader. Jo Jo's class is studying healthy foods, but when a snowstorm closes school, Jo Jo and her reservation friends get to celebrate their first snow day. Jo Jo tells her tale in the first person, and Bobiwash infuses her performance with just the right combination of childish cluelessness, overweening confidence, and genuine kindness. Her rendition of Jo Jo's impromptu yellow-snow song is sheer perfection in its tunelessness. Little listeners will giggle to hear Jo Jo's idea of a healthy breakfast (it involves ice cream); grownups will likely be as moved as Teacher (who is not Ojibwe) is when the children explain their cultural spins on snow play--for example, they build a snow wigwam. Endearing. V.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2024]